Bertz
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Everything posted by Bertz
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I think we're a good ways away from *that*
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WTF I thought the Padres were broke? This might be problematic because it pulls an arm off the market without removing a (known) team.
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IF this makes it across the finish line and IF we hold our assumptions about payroll, the team would be mostly tapped out after this. There'd be enough for several $1-2M moves, presumably a backup infielder and several relievers, but that's about it. Would be curious to see if they'd indeed pack it in or if there'd be any substantial move(s) from there.
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Yeah I took it as the Yankees are out on Imai but will be doing something else of substance (Bellinger, I assume?) instead. Cashman is pretty good at that, last year I think he pivoted from Soto to Fried and Devin Williams within a few days.
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I know Dombrowski loves good starting pitching, and he's got the rings to get the benefit of the doubt, but man putting all your money towards another SP when your outfield is that bad would be a really questionable choice. If the Yankees are truly out I feel really good about the Cubs chances, though the Mets and Giants lurk. Mets claim they won't go a bunch of years and Giants are crying poor, but either could easily be a smokescreen.
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One of the lefties would be starting most days somewhere in the RF/DH mix. The other would, if I had my way, be traded for pitching. Long would hang out at Iowa and be the first injury callup in case a corner player gets hurt. On a lesser team Long could open next year in MLB, but here he'll have to settle for being high quality depth.
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Between minor league options and the fact none of these guys make significant money you shouldn't write it in pen, but presumably the bench for next year is: - Amaya - Austin - Alcantara - TBD reserve infielder With an opportunity for a Bregman signing to push Shaw into becoming that infielder. There's also an option to have the lesser of Mo/Caissie replace Alcantara, but that means Seiya is your backup in CF. I do not like that option, piss or get off the pot and commit to just one of them.
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My understanding is that in Japan Christmas and Christmas Eve are fairly big, while New Years is huge. So between that and the logistics of all this stuff I'd suspect it's fairly likely he signs by Christmas and it would be a major shock if he makes it through next weekend unsigned.
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Oh and for something less wishy washy this feels extremely unlikely to be paired with an Okamoto.
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Steamer has him with a 110 wRC+ against lefties. Pretty solid at this price. IMO the two reasons you'd do this: - You are planning to spend practically nothing on the offense - You are doing something pretty substantial on offense, but it doesn't provide any coverage at 1B So if you force me to tea leaf this makes me think an Imai or a Bregman are a little more likely while a Gallen or a King seem a little less likely.
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Cubs' Top Three Bullpen X-Factors In 2026
Bertz replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in North Side Baseball Front Page News
Great article! I'm really hoping the team can help Little get his velocity back. He ended '24 with that shoulder injury, and I'm hoping that with a more normal offseason if strength and conditioning he can get back to sitting north of 95. A bit of a fun fact is that before this season Luke Little had not given up a professional homerun to a left handed hitter. Luke Little at full strength is at minimum absolute heat death against lefties, with his utility against righties probably depending on how much he can keep in the zone. I'm pretty full throated in my belief that Ben Brown's probably going to be a very good SP. That said I do want him to open next year in the bullpen in long relief. I suspect his issues as a SP are mostly confidence related, and once his feet are fully under him he will be a weapon. I'd let him earn leash until he's a high leverage long reliever (think Keegan Thompson at the height of his powers) which would be both insanely valuable for the 2026 Cubs and also set up Brown to grab a long term rotation spot heading into 2027. Hodge I'm hoping for a trajectory similar to what Palencia provided thia past year. Open the year in Iowa, be the first guy on the phone once a long term injury hits the big league pen, and be ready to come up and cement yourself.- 1 reply
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Yikes
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It feels like there's just total gridlock right now and 2-3 guys need to move before it clears up and things really start moving. Thank god the Japanese guys have strict deadlines, rhat should help.
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Fairbanks getting less than Weaver would be surprising, but apparently there are some medical reservations
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Ironically this would be my argument in favor of Gallen. I know he had a rough first half of 2025 but otherwise he's been consistently good and durable. Other options have major health (King, Cabrera) or performance (Imai) questions. Basically I view Gallen as a safe bet to be deluxe Jameson Taillon, while the others have much more boom and bust potential.
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Cubs Receiving Trade Interest In Second Baseman Nico Hoerner
Bertz replied to Brock Beauchamp's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
Slusser is the best at Giants stuff so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on Can't really think of anything the Giants could offer that would make it worthwhile though. Bryce Eldridge is awesome but another LHH bat at 1B/COF/DH would be silly. They also have a lot of young pitching at varying levels of quality, but unless I'm missing someone it's all Brown/Wicks types that are "promising...BUT" and not someone we'd jusy roll out Opening Day and hope for a Horton-esque trajectory. So like if we were selling and just moving Nico for value yeah I can envision a deal, but there's no win-win deal to be had a la what we did with Houston last winter. -
His deadline is Jan 2. So you'd suspect he'd probably want to be settled before Christmas, and definitely before New Years. I suspect the smoke coming out now is because he's done his visits and things are finally moving.
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I would gladly take Noel and try to sneak him through waivers to Iowa. Flex that 40 man muscle
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Garbage is stronger than I'd put it, but yeah Fairbanks is the last no-doubt closer. Hunter Harvey is really really good too but his medicals are a nightmare.
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I really do not care to get into all this Hoyer stuff today but slamming the guy for choosing the "4th option" and then simultaneously not giving him credit for how well that has turned out is pretty intellectually dishonest. You can be mad at the team for not spending more and you can be mad at the team when their spending blows up, but "you must both sign the most expensive guy AND it must work out great" is horsefeathing dumb.
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Two years, gonna guess this more or less confirms they're going pure volume with the bullpen
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God dammit Romero and now Ralph? Once Bob chimes in we're horsefeathered Start moving on folks
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This is a bad sign. Not the Yankees mention, but the fact that Romero has us so far along. He's Nightengale levels of always wrong
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Depending on what the team does bat-wise feels like there's an obvious Alcantara pitching trade to be made here
